caesura
[ si-zhoo r-uh, -zoo r-uh, siz-yoo r-uh ]
/ sɪˈʒʊər ə, -ˈzʊər ə, sɪzˈyʊər ə /
noun, plural cae·su·ras, cae·su·rae [si-zhoo r-ee, -zoo r-ee, siz-yoo r-ee] /sɪˈʒʊər i, -ˈzʊər i, sɪzˈyʊər i/.
Prosody. a break, especially a sense pause, usually near the middle of a verse, and marked in scansion by a double vertical line, as in know then thyself ‖ presume not God to scan.
Classical Prosody. a division made by the ending of a word within a foot, or sometimes at the end of a foot, especially in certain recognized places near the middle of a verse.
any break, pause, or interruption.
RELATED CONTENT
How To Use The SlashThe slash (/)—sometimes called a slant, a solidus, a stroke, or a virgule—is a commonly employed symbol in the English language. Whatever you want to call this piece of punctuation, its role in English has greatly changed over time. The word slash first entered English in the late 14th century as a verb to describe the cutting movement of a weapon, a word derived from …
Nearby words
Also cesura.
Origin of caesura
1550–60; < Latin, equivalent to caes(us) cut (past participle of caedere) (caed- cut + -tus past participle suffix) + -ūra -ure
Related formscae·su·ral, cae·su·ric, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for caesura
British Dictionary definitions for caesura
caesura
/ (sɪˈzjʊərə) /
noun plural -ras or -rae (-riː)
(in modern prosody) a pause, esp for sense, usually near the middle of a verse lineUsual symbol: ||
(in classical prosody) a break between words within a metrical foot, usually in the third or fourth foot of the line
Derived Formscaesural, adjective
Word Origin for caesura
C16: from Latin, literally: a cutting, from caedere to cut
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for caesura
caesura
1550s, from Latin caesura, "metrical pause," literally "a cutting," from past participle stem of caedere "to cut down" (see -cide).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper